The red cross and the salvation army use the lowest % for "office expenses" etc...

only give to those!

A fellow FARKer is also coordinating money raising efforts, here (pops).

>Katrina Info Exchange Board, courtesy of phoxxy

Find shelters, list shelters, share information with others

I have a great idea. How about we all always give lots of our money and time to charity instead of just when there's a high-profile disaster?

If you really want to help, give to a charity not associated with Katrina. Nobody seems to consider the huge hit other charities take when something like this happens. Give for Katrina if you want, but don't forget to give elsewhere as well.

East Texas Farker willing to open her home to Katrina displaced farkers. Email in profile.

If anyone needs a place to stay for a while, I live in New Iberia, LA. Email manacaryn38 at yahoo dot com.

Can anyone get some info about some local fire departments in the area?

I want to organize a fund raiser for one (or more).

Sorry...email address is:

gdriscoll(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks!

I can help!!!


But i'm not going to.

You have my vote PowerSlacker.

Damn shame Louisiana wasn't full of non-English speaking foreigners, like in the tsunami, then maybe the folks in Hollywood would be helping organize some telethons/fundraisers or at least pontificating about how the rest of the us should be responding to this crisis.

Sorry to bring this up, but...

I can relate to donating money to South-east Asian villagers who were povertry striken before the tsunami, living in countries that can't or won't pay for their relief. While my heart goes out to the people of New Orleans, shouldn't the US Federal government be able to cover this on it's own? Seriously, the war in Iraq is costing 5 billion a month, surely they don't need to rely on individual donations for domestic disaster relief?

KatrinaHome.com, courtesy of 8thSamurai

For people who can't return to New Orleans and need a place to stay.

GCD
Baton Rouge Fire Dept.:
http://brgov.com/dept/fire/
With contact info on that page.

I tried a quick search for more local (to NO) depts., and wondered why nothing came up. Took me a minute. Idiot me.

I evacuated sunday. High and dry, belly FULL, full tank of gas.
/embarassed the world has to see on tv the trash left behind.

GCD
And Biloxi:
http://www.biloxi.ms.us/firedepartment/
Again, contact info there.

There's a Springsteen song that he wrote for his adopted hometown of Asbury Park which was nearly destroyed by the race riots of the late 60's and early 70's called "My City of Ruins." He sang it for the tribute and fundraiser aired by all the networks shortly after 9/11 and I think after watching the horrific news coverage of the last 48 hours it's appropriate in this context as well:

There is a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Now the sweet bells of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves,
The boarded up windows,
The empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins

Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!

Now's there's tears on the pillow
Darlin' where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins

Now with these hands,
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands,
With these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
We pray for your love, Lord
We pray for the lost, Lord
We pray for this world, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord

Come on
Come on
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up

redcross.org has been loading slowly, so if you want to donate through amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/philanthropy/red-cross.html

Hate to repeat myself but the United Methodist Committee on Relief gives 100% of the money you give to relief efforts. Their administrative expenses are covered by the church - not your gifts.

You can give here: http://www.methodistrelief.org

Read UMCOR's statement on finances here: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/info.stm

I'm still waiting for some UN bureaucrat to chastise European countries for being so "stingy" with their aid dollars.

/still waiting
//STILL waiting

nbc is putting a concert/telethon thing together - live for friday night

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6253044.html

Its a very sad fact

Billions of completely improveshed people would LOVE to switch places with the hurricane refugees. Why is it that now there will be a huge spike in charity donations? 400,000 people died in asia a half year ago and were given less aid

We live in extremely wealthy countries. Just putting in some world perspective, not saying you shouldnt donate. These people lost everything. Everything. They need aid, and lots of it, just to get to livable conditions. And are still rich


watch me be a hypocrite when the big earthquake happens

"/embarassed the world has to see on tv the trash left behind."

Farking asshat, a lot of these people didn't have the ability to get out nor did the city have plans for them to get out. The real trash are these types of comments.

Anybody have any good voluteering ideas to aid in this situation? I'm currently between jobs and would be interested in looking into something that I could do to help for a couple of weeks. I'd donate, but the $ is running low. Any farkers who know of legit volunteering opportunities to truly help these devastated people, please post.

Yoda's Pen Is

>>Damn shame Louisiana wasn't full of non-English speaking foreigners, like in the tsunami, then maybe the folks in Hollywood would be helping organize some telethons/fundraisers or at least pontificating about how the rest of the us should be responding to this crisis.<<

Oh, come on. You really think those rich, white liberals in Hollywood give a shiat about those black welfare queens trapped in New Orleans attics? Maybe if they can plug their new movie while asking for donations, but otherwise...

The link to the Red Cross donation form is very slow. This one will work faster:

http://arc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main

I used to work for the hosting company; this is legit.

Will N. Dowd:

I have a great idea. How about we all always give lots of our money and time to charity instead of just when there's a high-profile disaster?

If you really want to help, give to a charity not associated with Katrina. Nobody seems to consider the huge hit other charities take when something like this happens. Give for Katrina if you want, but don't forget to give elsewhere as well.

Good point. I am a regular Red Cross local chapter donor. I just kick a little extra to the IRC and ARC when something like this happens, while still doing my regular contributions. I have been thinking about adding Doctor's Without Borders to my charity list as well.

Yoda's Pen Is

What an ignorant ass you are. The massive fund raising for the tsunami victims was a response to the fact that those people had no or few other sources of help. The Katrina mess is tragic, but at least we have FEMA and other well-funded government programs to help. Proportionally the funds available to help Katrina victims is gigantic compared to the tsunami victims. And if I recall earlier fark stories correctly there is already some Hollywood types helping out with fund raising.

I don't mean to come off as crass, or a jerk by any means. I wish to donate through the site offered from a fellow farker spookcomix. Granted, right now, I only have about only $200 for funds I can donate other than my normal charities while (horrible choice of words/not trying to be funny) staying afloat. I was hoping if other fellow farkers can tell me if this is legit. No offense to you of course, spookcomix, but my channel is usually the Red Cross or Salvation Army in these situations.

/Too bad I'm jaded I have to ask if this is a scam
//Honestly, no offense

ShadowLurker:

What an ignorant ass you are. The massive fund raising for the tsunami victims was a response to the fact that those people had no or few other sources of help. The Katrina mess is tragic, but at least we have FEMA and other well-funded government programs to help. Proportionally the funds available to help Katrina victims is gigantic compared to the tsunami victims. And if I recall earlier fark stories correctly there is already some Hollywood types helping out with fund raising.

Don't forget that every single homeowner with a mortgage had insurance. It will not cover it all but it will help, in conjunction with FEMA.

The real question will be how will the insurance company classify this (is it a flood or a hurricane or does it matter?) and what will they pay out?

Is there an insurance expert out there who knows how this will work. I remember in FL that the homeowners policies left them with a 10% or more deductable for hurricanes.

Farking asshat, a lot of these people didn't have the ability to get out nor did the city have plans for them to get out. The real trash are these types of comments.

With few exceptions, the people still there are there by choice, these are able-bodied people. Everyone who lives in NO KNOWS this is a possibility. Why wouldn't they have some plan? Only by choice.

The people who are fooked are the lower income folks who live in rental situations. The ones who did not have cars and could not get out etc...

This is a really comforting story, especially considering the one above it.

Really? Working poor or unemployed or homeless? People without cars who rely on public transit to get around the city? With no help from gov't to transport them out? They decided to hang around?

Powerslacker
As one who "evacuated" years and years before you did, I have to agree . . . TinyPrancer has no farking idea how true it is what you said. They were warned far in advance.

FEMA is NOT well funded- ShadowLurker

/just clarifying that

bluprint:

With few exceptions, the people still there are there by choice, these are able-bodied people. Everyone who lives in NO KNOWS this is a possibility. Why wouldn't they have some plan? Only by choice.


Were they going to walk out if they didn't own a car? I know that some people chose to stay but many had no means and the public transport out could not take them all. Plus there are the indigent who are not able bodied and the elderly who also had great difficulty. Just because you see a few hundred looters n TV doesn't mean there are not many thousands who had no chance jackass.

//Oh I keep forgetting being poor and not owning a car is a crime in the America. You are not funding the oil barons enough so please go ahead and drown.

And yes the money goes to all those who were able to leave, those who were not and those who chose not to.

GCD

NO Fire Departments:

http://louisiana.firedepartments.net/fire/LA/NewOrleans.html

Mikehell:

shouldn't the US Federal government be able to cover this on it's own? Seriously, the war in Iraq is costing 5 billion a month, surely they don't need to rely on individual donations for domestic disaster relief?

It's not the government that needs the money, it's the people who do.

LINENOISE

This story was on NBC national news tonight - the firehouse that received the truck is mobilizing as of this morning to return the favor. They were loading huge trucks and some of the "search and rescue" teams to go down this afternoon.

LineNoise -

You should read this article from the NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/342172p-292043c.html

This disaster wasn't a surprise like the tsunami was, it was tracked, predicted and people were warned well in advance to evacuate the area. A lot of people couldnt evacuate because they had no means of transportation to leave in, so why didnt the government have buses, trains, or National Guard units doing evacuations for those that couldn't leave? What is FEMA doing right now to fix these problems? We are the richest country in the world with one of the highest levels of technology, yet our government is unable to respond to a disaster that it knew was coming. That is unacceptable.

Like always the government was unprepared and unwilling to deal with the problem before it happened and was caught with its pants down (both local and federal). What are all these tax dollars we pay for if our own government can't deal with a disaster that it knew was coming?

There shouldn't be a need for disaster relief funds or websites where you can go to help the victims because our government should have been prepared and be dealing with the situation right now.

As far as the Asia disaster, very little of the money donated for relief actually went to help the people that were directly affected by the tsunami. They were living in rundown slums before it hit and their governments are unwilling to put money into replacing their homes. Instead, they are spending the money to build up the hotels and tourist industries and displacing the people that were living in the areas affected.

Throwing money at the problem won't do very much to fix what happened. If you want to make a difference find out why our great government isn't dealing with it like it should be. If it was, there wouldn't be a need to create relief funds. However, if you feel the need to give money, I'd suggest the Red Cross, one of the few honest instutions that will actually help those in need.

2005-08-31 09:23:21 PM Mikehell

Sorry to bring this up, but...

I can relate to donating money to South-east Asian villagers who were povertry striken before the tsunami, living in countries that can't or won't pay for their relief. While my heart goes out to the people of New Orleans, shouldn't the US Federal government be able to cover this on it's own? Seriously, the war in Iraq is costing 5 billion a month, surely they don't need to rely on individual donations for domestic disaster relief?

Mike,

I see your point, but holy crap. Have you watched TV in the past 48 hrs?

Yes, people should have evacuated. Yes, those who are there are a) stupid, b) ballsy, c) povertry striken or all of the above.

The fact of the matter is that it no longer matters why they are there. These are people who need help.

I cant help but ask if you'd feel more hopeful waiting for the Feds to come up with a solution, or relying upon a bunch of geeks on the internet who can get a few people here and a few people there what they need right now.